Danny's Bully Issues
by KicsterAsh
Summary: Sam takes Danny along in her car, showing him what her daily routine is when picking their son up from school. Unfortunately, Danny sees Andy getting picked on, and immediately jumps to action, with disastrous results.
1. Chapter 1

Sam pulled her black sports car up in front of the Elementary school and placed it in park. She pressed down on the gas lightly and revved the engine.

Danny whistled lowly and looked at his wife from his place in the passenger's seat. "Gives me goosebumps every time you do that," he said.

"Boys and their toys, _that's_ over," Sam replied proudly, rubbing the dashboard of the car. "This baby's all mine. All 700 grand of it."

"She's a sweet ride."

"You'd better believe it. _And_ she's eco-friendly."

"When are you gonna let me drive it?"

Sam laughed sarcastically and looked at Danny. "Try in one million _lightyears_, pal," she said. "You may be my husband now, but it doesn't mean you're allowed to drive it. Besides; she's voice-activated. Won't respond to a ghost."

"Ooo, that hurt," Danny laughed softly. He turned his arm invisible and stuck it into Sam's side, making her giggle. "What if I overshadowed you? Would it respond to my voice then?"

"Danny, if you even _dare_ to try that, I'll kill you!" Sam squealed, drowning in her giggles. "Get your hand out of my ribs!"

Danny giggled childishly before pulling his hand out and sighing. He turned and looked at the school. "Should be done any time now," he said.

"He'll be one of the first ones out," Sam replied, digging into her purse. "He usually is."

Danny looked at her again. "He doesn't use his powers to do that, does he?" he asked worriedly.

"Danny, if I never found out that my own son had inherited two of your _ghostly_ abilities in the past five years, then I'm sure no one else did either," Sam replied with a tired sigh. "I think he's mastered how to keep others from noticing it by now."

"How do you know? He's only five years old."

"How do _I_ know? Easy…" Sam leaned towards Danny and gently slapped his cheek. "Andy's not the nervous wreck _you_ used to be in school."

"Is it just me, or have you been practicing at your insults while I was stuck in the Ghost Zone all these years?" Danny asked, slightly peeved.

Sam chuckled. "Not really," she replied. She leaned closer and placed her lips against his. "But I've practiced this."

Danny hummed softly before pulling his lips away from hers to speak. "With who; Tucker?" he teased softly before kissing her again.

"Gross; and he'd probably hurl if he heard you say that," Sam muttered, making him laugh softly.

The school bell suddenly rang, causing Sam to pull herself away from her husband. She sat back down in the driver's seat and straightened her hair. "Here they come," she said with a sigh.

The doors to the school burst open and out ran dozens of children ranging from the ages of five to thirteen, shouting loudly. Most ran to the busses, while other grabbed their bikes and dashed down the sidewalk to get home.

"I remember that," Danny said with a grin. He looked at Sam. "The feel of freedom after a day at school. Tucker and I used to race each other out the door and down the street."

"Until either you tripped on a crack or he tripped on his shoelaces," Sam replied. "You two were literally walking death traps."

Danny chuckled softly before looking up at the school again.

The doors opened once more, and this time, he recognized his son to be one of the children to walk down the steps.

"Right on cue," Sam announced. "He's better than you were."

"Hardee har," Danny laughed sardonically. "So you just wait for him in the car?"

"Usually. He's pretty good on getting here on his own."

Danny looked at her for a moment.

"Then, we usually give Tucker a visit before heading back home."

Danny looked at the road ahead for a moment and then stared at his feet. "Tucker really made sure you two were okay all this time, didn't he?" he said softly, recalling the promise his best friend had made him before Danny was sent to the Ghost Zone.

Sam smiled weakly at the thought and nodded her head. "Sure did," she replied. "He really wanted to make sure things were perfect for you when you came back." She looked at Danny. "And he didn't change much either," she added. "Just like you wanted."

Danny grinned in reply.

Sam winked back before digging through her purse again. "Anyway, so we'll go to Town Hall to visit Tuck before we make a quick stop at the mail and then head home," she announced. "Part of the daily schedule—!"

A cry of surprise suddenly cause Danny to raise his head and look at the schoolyard again. There, he saw a boy about eight or nine years of age, with blond hair and blue eyes, push Andy to the ground, making the five-year-old trip and fall on his back. Then came the name calling.

Danny frowned. "Is _that_ part of the schedule, Sam?" he asked, catching her attention.

Sam looked out his window and covered her mouth. "Oh, no," she said softly.

The blond-haired boy grabbed Andy's shirt collar and pulled the child up to his face, all the while continuing to tease him.

"I remember _that_ part of school too," Danny added, unimpressed.

"Jazz told me that Andy got picked on," Sam mentioned. "But he never spoke about it or seemed to be too bothered about it either."

"The thing about _bullies_, Sam, is that they make you too _scared_ to talk about it," Danny replied, frowning at her. "I never told my parents about my bully problems either, remember?"

The boy shouted something out again and Andy shook his head violently before his attacker raised a fist to strike.

That was it. Danny immediately unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. "Okay, break time's over," he said. "This is one scheduled event that _won't_ be taking place."

Sam reached for him, but Danny had already exited the car and had closed the door behind him. "Danny, wait!" she shouted out the window. "You don't know who's _kid_ that is!" When Danny made no sign in turning back, Sam hastily closed her purse and began undoing her own belt.

* * *

Andy braced himself when he saw Billy raise his fist up. The blond haired boy grinned. "So, you gonna hand over that Danny Phantom action figure?" he asked.

"No!" Andy shouted back. "My Uncle Tucker gave it to _me_! It's _mine!" _

Billy narrowed his eyes. "Wrong answer, Pipsqueak," he hissed. He raised his fist a little more. "Time for punishment!"

Andy turned his face away and shut his eyes tightly.

Billy was just about to bring down his fist when he heard footsteps headed his way. He raised his eyebrows when held back his fist when someone spoke.

"Hey!" Danny shouted, dodging running children and rushing up to the two in question. "Hey, cut it out!"

Billy gasped softly and let go of Andy's shirt, dropping the five-year-old on the ground. He quickly placed his fist behind his back and stood up straight.

Danny stopped in front of them and frowned softly while placing his hands on his hips. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

Billy quickly shook his head. "No, Sir," he replied. "I just wanted to see his Danny Phantom toy, that's all."

"No, you didn't!" Andy yelled angrily, getting to his feet. "You wanted to _steal_ it from me because it's worth a lot of money!"

Billy tried to ignore him. "He's just kiddin', Mister," he said nervously.

"I am _not_!" Andy exclaimed, pointing at him. "You were gonna beat me up for it!"

Danny looked at the two children before speaking. "Aren't you a little old to be fighting over a toy, Kid?" he asked the blond-haired boy.

Billy shrunk a little until someone in the back caught his eye. He grinned brightly and waved. "Hey, Dad!" he called out.

Danny raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. He stared in complete surprise at the man who rushed over.

Dash jogged slowly while waving at his son. "Hey, Billy!" he said, coming to a stop near Danny. "Sorry I'm late pickin' you up, Buddy."

"That's okay, I was just havin' some fun with Andy Fenton," Billy replied innocently.

The Football star nodded, almost proudly.

Danny noticed it and stared at him in disbelief. "_Dash_?" he said.

Dash raised his head and looked at Danny, as if just noticing him there for the first time. "Hey, Fenton!" he said cheerfully. "I thought you were the little guy's dad!"

"I should have noticed the resemblance of character between you and _yours_," Danny added, still startled. "I thought you didn't live in Amity Park anymore."

"Oh; I moved back three years ago," Dash replied. "My dad needed some help with the shop. We live just outside of AP, now. Works good, because I go to work in the nearest city. I can visit here more often, now."

"Oh; _great_," Danny muttered sarcastically under his breath. "So this is your kid, huh?"

Dash grinned. "Yep," he said. You met him that time before you disappeared."

"Oh, yeah. That time." Danny cleared his throat and looked at him again. "His name's Billy?"

"Actually, it's William. But we call him Billy for short."

Danny pointed at the children. "Did you know that he's picking on Andy?" he asked.

Dash blinked several times and his grin remained. He shrugged. "I wouldn't call it _picking on_," he said.

Danny frowned weakly. "So you _did_ know," he assumed.

"Kids do it all the time, Danny."

"That's _bullying_, Dash," Danny clarified. "You should tell him to stop."

Dash seemed startled by this. "Why?" he wondered.

Danny's frown grew. "_Why_?" he echoed. "Because he'll eventually _hurt_ Andy."

"He's not playing _rough_, Danny," Dash replied. "He's just… practicing his moves. He does it at home with his sister a lot, you know. They play fight all the time."

"I don't care what they do at home, Dash," Danny said sternly. "And I'd rather you not act as though my son is just another punching bag."

"Relax, Fenton, no one's hurt!" Dash said defensively. "Billy's just practicing!"

"So you're encouraging it?"

"A kid's gotta be tough, Fenton. Just like I taught you."

Danny felt his anger begin to rise, though he was able to cover it from the outside. He glared at the football player. "You called that _teaching_, hm?" he said dryly, though as calmly as he could.

"I had to teach you _somehow." _

"You _stuffed_ me in my _locker." _

Dash sighed. "Look, Danny, if it helps you feel better, I'll tell Billy to dial down on the practice," he said. "If your kid isn't tough enough to take it, then I'm cool."

Danny bared his teeth.

"I don't want anyone hurt, right?"

Danny hesitated for a long time before squeezing his fist. Then, after finally making up his mind, he pulled his arm back and swung his fist directly into Dash's face.

Dash groaned painfully and stumbled backwards while placing a hand on his face. Children who were rushing about or talking froze or gasped and stared at the two adults.

Billy and Andy stared wide-eyed at Dash before turning their eyes on Danny.

Danny breathed heavily and glared at Dash. "A few years late to say _that_, Dash!" he yelled angrily.

Dash rubbed his left eye and uncovered it, revealing it to already be pink. He frowned. "What the heck was _that_ for?" he exclaimed.

"Keep your kid away from mine, and I won't do anything _worse_!" Danny snapped.

Dash growled and pulled up his sleeve. "You think you can actually take on me?" he hissed. "You weren't able to do it in high school, so what makes you think you can do it now?"

"Don't test me, Dash!"

_"Test_ you?" Dash yelled angrily and charged at Danny while holding up his fist.

Danny ducked as Dash's fist flew over him and then straightened out. He threw out his leg and tripped the football player, sending him to the ground.

"You fight like a whimp, Fenton!" Dash yelled angrily, grabbing Danny's leg.

Danny glared at him and made his foot intangible. Dash's hand phased right through it, taking him by surprise. Danny took the opportunity to get down on top of Dash and punch him again.

Students all shouted in awe and rushed over to watch the two men fight. The children were enthralled to see adults throwing fists at each other. What made the scene all the more interesting was that it was taking place in front of their school.

Danny and Dash rose up to their feet and grabbed each other's shirts. Both were now covered in scrapes and bruises. "You've got some nerve picking a fight with me, Fen_terd_," Dash growled behind his teeth.

"You know what I'm capable of doing to you, Dash," Danny growled back.

"I'd like to see you go ghost in the middle of this crowd, Danny; you'd just chicken out like you always did!"

Danny yelled angrily and swung another fist into Dash's face. Dash swung his into Danny's shoulder.

Someone violently pushed between them and placed their hands on their chests. "BREAK IT UP, BREAK IT UP!" Sam yelled loudly, separating the two men from each other. She was able to push them hard enough to make both Danny and Dash stumble backwards. She frowned furiously at them both and crossed her arms. "You guys are worse than kids, honestly!" she snapped. "Just grow _up_ the both of you!"

Danny rubbed his arm and glared furiously at Dash.

Sam took a moment and glared at her husband before looking at Dash. "Unless you want me to call the cops and have them arrest _both_ of you for fighting on _school grounds_, Dash, take your kid and vamoose," she said, pointing at the man's red corvette.

Dash stared at her in silence before shooting an icy glare at Danny. "You get your wife to do the dirty work, huh?" he said. "Just like in high school."

"Say that again inches from my _face_, you MORON!" Danny yelled angrily, making to charge at him.

Sam and Andy pushed back against him, holding the astronaut in place. "I said, cut it _out_, Daniel!" Sam snapped. She looked at Billy. "Better go with your dad, Billy," she said.

Billy nodded quickly and ran off after his father. Dash rubbed his cheek while glaring at Danny and then continued on his way.

Slowly, everything around them went back to normal, and the children went back to doing what they had been doing earlier. Sam waited a moment before shooting another glare at Danny. "Very well taken care of, Captain _Fenton_!" she snapped softly.

"It would have helped if you told me that kid was _Dash's_!" Danny snapped back angrily.

"Oh, right! And have you beat _that_ kid up too?"

The doors to the school opened up wide and out hurried the principal, the same man who had been the vice principal and one of Danny and Sam's high school teachers, Mr. Lancer. "Moby Dick, people!" he exclaimed. "What's going on out here?"

"Sorry, Mr. Lancer," Sam apologized. "Just clearing up a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding," Danny muttered grumpily. "Misunderstanding my—!"

Sam stomped on his foot as hard as she could, making Danny yelp painfully and reach down to rub it.

Lancer looked at them and then watched as Dash drove off in his car. The old man sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just like old times, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" he guessed, looking at Danny.

"I'll make sure it won't happen again, Mr. Lancer," Sam replied. She looked at Andy. "Get your father to the car, Sweetie."

"Okay, Mommy," Andy replied, helping his father limp to the sports car.

Sam watched them leave and then looked up at Lancer again. "Danny's still adjusting to his return to Amity Park, Sir," she said. "He's still not on good terms with Dash."

"Well, I can't expect more from a man who's been _missing_ for five _years_," Lancer replied with another sigh. "Just make sure he doesn't get himself killed by Mr. Baxter." He turned and walked off. "At least, not on school grounds."

Sam nodded and looked at her car. She frowned. "Oh, Dash won't be the one who'll kill him, Sir," she said, walking off to the car.

Danny had just put his seatbelt on when Sam opened her door and sat inside the car. She slammed it shut and buckled her seatbelt. "Can you be any more _embarrassing_?" Sam snapped softly behind her teeth.

"After about sixteen years of holding it back, I don't think I've ever felt as _good_," Danny replied stubbornly as Sam stepped on the gas and drove off.


	2. Chapter 2

Tucker was busy reading a book in the park, waiting for the daily visit of his nephew, when he heard the engine of Sam's car roar down the street. He looked up and grinned, just as the car parked on the side of the road.

The mayor tucked his book away into his bag and walked up to the car. The back door opened and out inched Andy, until he was able to jump out and run to his uncle. "Uncle Tucker!" he cried out happily, holding out his arms.

Tucker laughed and threw the boy up into the air, making Andy laugh hysterically. "Hey, Short Stuff!" he exclaimed. "How was school?"

"I learned how to write from one to twenty!" Andy replied proudly.

"Wow, already? You're gonna be better than me in no time!" Tucker looked up at Sam when she stepped out of the car and then looked through the windshield at Danny, who had remained inside the vehicle. He did a doubletake and looked at Sam again. "Yo, what the heck happened to Danny?" he said in shock, having noticed the scrapes and bruises.

Sam rolled her eyes. "He saw Dash's kid picking on Andy and tried to stop it," she said. "But then Dash showed up and practically told Danny that Andy was too weak to handle anything."

"Oh, snap," Tucker muttered softly, shuddering in the progress. "I'm guessing it wasn't all hugs and kisses, huh?"

"They started fighting on school grounds," Andy replied. "And right after, Mr. Lancer came outside."

"Ooo, _that_ mustn't have been pretty," Tucker added while recoiling as though he had received a heavy blow. "Danny's not adjusting too well to seeing Dash so often yet, is he?"

Sam sighed and looked at her car. She remained silent for a moment before looking at Tucker and holding up her keys. "Take him for a ride," she said. "He needs to talk to someone other than me."

"You sure?"

"Trust me, he played the silent treatment with me all the way here in the car."

Tucker sighed softly and put Andy down. "Okie dokie, Squeaker," he said. "You stay here with your mom for a minute while I go cheer your dad up."

"Okie dokie!" Andy echoed, as Tucker traded his laptop bag for Sam's car keys.

He walked up to the vehicle and opened the driver's door. He sat down inside the car and closed the door behind him before taking the keys and sticking them into the ignition. Once it had started, he buckled himself in. "Phantom; start," he announced, making the vehicle start up.

All this time, Danny watched him do so in silence. "What are you doing?" he wondered.

"Taking you for a ride," Tucker replied.

"But how did you start the car?"

"Voice activation."

"But Sam said it only starts with her voice."

Tucker clicked his belt into place and placed his hand on the clutch. "Maybe," he said, pushing the stick to drive. "But I'm the one who installed the system _into_ the car for her."

* * *

For the first fifteen minutes or so, Tucker remained silent, and so did Danny. Tucker planned on remaining silent for the first few minutes of the drive, just to let Danny cool down. He knew exactly how his best friend worked, even though he had not seen him for the past five years; and the first thing Danny needed after having blown a fuse was some quiet time without being forced to give the silent treatment.

He drove down different streets, passing sites they recognized from their childhood, and then decided to take the car out into the country. He took the car into the forest, back out again, up and down hills and only stopped it when they came to a hill high enough to over look Amity Park and the surrounding areas. There, he put the car into park, pulled the key out of the ignition and sat back, staring at the city-turned town he had grown up in.

Danny, arms still crossed and body halfway off of the seat, stared over the city as well, suddenly amazed at how much it had grown since he last saw it.

Tucker waited a moment before sighing and looking at his best friend. "Tell me what's bothering you," he said softly.

Danny scoffed softly without looking at him. "You sound like my sister," he muttered.

"A therapist? A doctor?"

"A _shrink." _

Tucker giggled very quietly before sinking down into his seat and placing his hands on his chest. "You know what really sucks about being mayor of Amity Park?" he said. He waited a moment before continuing. "People always come to me with their problems. Whether it's about reducing taxes or fights over a patch of land, or even something ghost-related. They want me to choose sides or ask for my opinion. They expect me to have all the answers. They ask me before taking stuff to the court. Even the media, after a conference, ask me question after question. Eventually, it all starts to pile up in my brain and makes things confusing. Sometimes I even find myself doubting my abilities to handle situations like that. Sometimes I think that people aren't there to ask for my advice; they just want to twist the truth and make me look like an idiot…"

Danny remained silent. He did not quite understand where Tucker was going with his story, and if he never would understand, he'd probably just find himself sitting there while Tucker chattered on and on and _on. _

But he listened anyway; just in case something important did pop up.

Tucker looked at him, although Danny did not give back the glance. "But as hard as the problems seem, I know that I have to keep going," he went on. "I know I have to take charge. I'm the mayor of Amity Park. People didn't vote for me to take advantage of my power; they voted for me because they knew that I would make a good mayor. I'm smart, I'm confident, I even know how to build ghost weaponry. I'm the town's link and closest known companion to the ghost hero, Danny Phantom. They rely on me to help resolve their problems. I can't afford to waste time when I'm listening to their problems or going through political junkmail, even if it feels like a waste of my time. I've got a duty to the city, and that's to keep them up to date, protect them as much as I can, and help them survive one day at a time."

"Tucker, I don't mean to be rude, but it _really_ feels like I'm going _nowhere_ with this talk," Danny eventually sighed tiredly. He looked at his friend after rolling his eyes. "What exactly are you trying to get to?"

Tucker looked at him in silence before answering. "The point that I've got responsibilities," he explained.

"And what do they have to do with my fight with Dash, or his kid bullying mine?"

"The fact that you're wasting your time."

Danny fell silent. Tucker's talk suddenly seemed serious.

Tucker looked at him in silence once more before turning his eyes back to the horizon. "When you have responsibilities, Danny," he said, "You need to think before you act. If you heard all of the stupid little, dinky problems people come to me with, you'd be ready to resign and chop your head off. Some people come and bother me with little things like a parking ticket or a rock through the window. They come to _me_ before going to the dang police.

"But instead of shouting at them and telling them to go see the cops, or before deciding to comment about their stupid little issue, I play a little movie through my head. It shows me what _could_ happen if I acted like an idiot. People would stop relying on me or trusting me; they might even kick me out of the mayor's office. I could lose the reputation I worked at building since I graduated from Computer college. That's why you should think before you act."

Tucker sat up and leaned towards Danny. He looked the man straight in the eye. "I know Dash has been one of the top people you wanted to kill since high school, Danny," he said. "I even want to knock the guy's teeth out sometimes. But you not only punched the guy, you did it in front of an elementary school, in front of dozens of kids, and worse, in front of Andy. Did you stop to think about what would be going through Andy's mind?"

Danny was suddenly overcome by disbelief and shame. He looked at his feet as his eyes darkened.

"There's always going to be people that we love to hate, Danny," Tucker continued. "Just like there's always a bunch of ghosts who will always hate you for trapping them in that thermos and sending them back into the ghost zone. But we can't expect to make ourselves or the people around us feel better by knocking the daylights out of the guy who bullied us since kindergarten. That would just make things worse. Karma's a seriously bad thing, dude. And it's especially not good for a guy who not only saves the world on a daily basis, but for the kid who looks up to him as a dad and a hero."

Danny sighed heavily yet remained mute, and did not look up at his best friend. He suddenly felt completely horrible for his actions and felt embarrassed for the way he looked like at that moment, covered in bruises and scrapes.

"Anger's a really easy emotion to use to our advantage," Tucker said. "And I know you know it better than anyone. Anger influences your ghost powers incredibly easily." He placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and smiled encouragingly when his best friend looked up at him. "But you've been able to overpower it before. I've seen you do it. And you can be an even better person when you do. Not to mention it makes you feel a lot better than when you hold in your anger until it explodes. Things would work a lot better if you thought before you acted, Danny. And I'm pretty sure you'd agree."

"I… didn't stop to think about what Andy would think," Danny said softly, staring at his feet again. "I was just so ticked off when I saw him get bullied, and realizing that it was Dash's kid just made me flip." He paused before continuing. "I don't want Andy to go through what I did when I was his age."

"What Andy will go through isn't something you should be concerning yourself about, Danny," Tucker said. "School, cliques, bullies; those are all things we needed to go through, and when graduation arrived, we all realized just how far we came and how great it felt to have it behind us. Andy may meet problems along the way, but resolving it by sinking a fist into Dash's nose won't fix the dilemma…" Tucker paused for a moment and grinned. "But it _would_ make a great action picture," he added.

Danny chuckled softly at these words before his smile faded away again.

"Andy's a smart kid, Danny. He's hidden from us his powers of intangibility and invisibility since forever, and he's probably learned how to use them to his advantage without giving it away to anyone." Tucker chuckled after a moment. "And he's not shy, and he's not a nervous wreck like you were, so we won't need to worry about his pants falling down in class."

These words brought back memories and finally made Danny throw his head back and laugh.

Tucker waited for him to finish before speaking again. "So," he said, sitting in his seat. "How was that for a shrink?"

"Way better than Jazz," Danny replied through a chuckle. He looked at his arms and studied his injuries. "I guess I did act a lot like how Dash did in high school. I think spending five years in the Ghost Zone has rusted up my brain."

"Nothing that can't be fixed within a few days," Tucker replied, starting the car. He put the clutch into reverse and began backing up. "So before we go back to see how Sam and Danny Phantom Junior's doing, why don't we make a quick stop at the Nasty Burger and grab a bite to eat? My treat."

Danny grinned and looked out the window. "I'd like that," he said softly.

"Good. But don't make it too expensive. I still need to pay Sam back for breaking her grandma's china. Oh yeah; and I wanted to get Andy that toboggan when the snow comes."

Danny looked at him. "Thanks, Tucker," he said.

Tucker looked at him for a moment before looking over his shoulder again to see where he was going. "What are best friends for, Bro?" he replied.

"Not just this," Danny said with a shake of his head. "Thank you… for not changing, except for a certain degree of maturity… and for taking care of Sam… and Andy all these years."

Tucker looked at him again and remained silent for a moment longer before grinning warmly and stopping the car to put it into drive. "A promise is a promise, Danny," he said. "I just wanted to make sure everything had its place for you when you came back."

"Well… thank you. Again. For everything."

"What are best friends for?"

* * *

They returned to the park thirty minutes later, finding Andy and Sam playing on the seesaw. Tucker stepped out of the car and walked over to Sam once she had gotten off of the plank of wood. She took back the keys, spoke to him while Danny waited in the car, and then pointed at where she had placed Andy's backpack and Tucker's laptop. Tucker then rushed over to his nephew, scooped him up into the air and ran around the park, carrying the five-year-old in his arms. Andy squealed happily and spread his arms out wide like an airplane.

Danny watched them laugh and imitate the sounds of a plane until Sam opened the door to her car and sat down in the driver's seat.

Danny looked up at her before staring out the window at Tucker and Andy.

"I hear he broke your silent treatment," Sam announced. "That's pretty good if you ask me. I still haven't figured out how to do that."

Danny grinned weakly but did not look at her.

"I guess you need to be a techno geek to do it; Danny Phantom comes with his own security codes that need to be cracked every now and then to get to his soft spot."

Danny continued to watch Tucker and Andy fool around. The black man and placed Andy back down on the ground and the five-year-old pretended to shot some kind of ghost weapon at him. Tucker, being the dramatic person that he was, cried out in fright and began running off around the park, Andy hot on his trail. Of course, Tucker only ran as fast as the five-year-old could, and only stopped when Andy said that he had shot him. Tucker fell to the ground and lay completely still while Andy walked over and asked if he was okay. Then the man sprang his arms up and wrapped them around the boy, taking Andy by surprise. He dragged Andy to the ground, where he began to tickle him.

"Andy really likes him," Danny said very softly.

Sam looked at him for a moment before staring out the window at Tucker and Andy. She grinned. "Yeah," she said. "Tucker took care of him whenever I had my hands full. He told him all sorts of stories, mostly ghost stories or your adventures or something. He knows all of Andy's favourite story books by heart and all his favourite outdoor games. He taught him how to ride his four-wheeler bike and how to play chess. He's Andy favourite uncle."

Danny looked away for a moment and began comparing the moments he spent with his son since he returned from the Ghost Zone to all the days Andy spent with Tucker since he was born. Compared to that, Danny hardly knew him.

"Why didn't you just make _him_ Andy's father?" Danny asked.

Sam looked at him in surprise.

"I mean, he knows Tucker so much better than he knows me, and Tucker knows _him_ a heckova lot more than I do," Danny added. "All I know about him is that he looks like me and he's inherited two of my ghost powers. Why didn't you just make Tucker Andy's dad?"

Sam remained silent before finally smiling. She chuckled softly and shook her head. "I don't think Tucker would have wanted to, to be honest, Danny," she replied. "Andy reminded him too much of you. He would have thought that it was weird, caring for his best friend's kid as if it was his own." She looked out the window. "He made it perfectly clear to Andy since the day he was born that he was going to be his uncle and that his daddy was the town's superhero. I think Tucker was the one who told Andy that he was the son of Danny Phantom. He told Andy that his daddy was lost in the Ghost Zone and was trying to find his way home, but that one day, he would come back and take care of him.

"Tucker was so proud of who his best friend was, he didn't want to replace you, Danny. So he told everything about you to Andy until Andy couldn't go a single day without kissing a picture of you or asking a question about the way you acted or what you liked. He loved Danny Phantom stories, he loved hearing stories from your parents about how you grew up, and he never went one night without acting out a battle between Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius or some other bad guy that Tucker gave him in his toy set."

Sam reached over and placed a hand on Danny's arm. Danny raised his head and looked at her.

"Andy loves his Uncle Tucker, Danny," Sam said softly. "But he loves his daddy too. And he'd never ask for another one. Trust me."

Danny grinned weakly as Sam leaned over and kissed his bruised cheek.

"… Even if his daddy gets teed off a little _too_ often."

"Okay, okay… I've learned my lesson… You can drop it…"


End file.
